Pattern wheel with hinged jack

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to a pattern wheel for a knitting machine and more particularly to an improved hinged jack assembly for selectively blocking pattern controlling slots thereof. The pattern wheel is equipped with a continuous hinge wire which is frictionally retained in place and on the hinge wire there is mounted a plurality of individually hingable jacks, each jack having a blocking portion which is adapted to be positioned within a pattern slot of the pattern wheel to block the same. The jacks have snap engagement with the hinge wire and the need for a conventional hinge structure is eliminated.

United States Patent Audia PATTERN WHEEL WITH HINGED JACK [72] Inventor: Samuel Conn.

W. Audia, Torrington,

[73] Assignee: The Torrington Company, Torrington, Conn.

[22] Filed: May 28, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 41,389

[451 Aug. 8, 1972 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 176,236 3/ 1922 Great Britain ..66/50 A 287,038 3/1928 Great Britain ..66/50 A 218,848 7/ 1924 Great Britain ..66/50 A Primary Examiner-Wm. Carter Reynolds Attorney-Diner, Brown, Ramik & Holt ABSTRACT This disclosure relates to a pattern wheel for a knitting machine and more particularly to an improved hinged jack assembly for selectively blocking pattern controlling slots thereof. The pattern wheel is equipped with a continuous hinge wire which is frictionally retained in place and on the hinge wire there is mounted a plurality of individually hingable jacks, each jack having a blocking portion which is adapted to be positioned within a pattern slot of the pattern wheel to block the same. The jacks have snap engagement with the hinge wire and the need for a conventional hinge structure is eliminated.

8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Patented Aug. 15, 1972 3,683,645

I iii" I i "I ."ILII i, i I; J l i r K INVENTOR \D SAMUEL W. AUDIA ATTORNEYS PATTERN WHEEL WITH HINGED JACK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Some knitting machines use pattern wheels to control the fabric patterns knitting thereby. These pattern wheels are formed with a large number of radial slots about the periphery thereof, these slots being pattern control slots. These pattern control slots have two modes: (I) the open slot, and (2) the slot in a closed condition. In order to close the slot, inserts are provided which have blocking portions which plug or fill the slots.

A fabric pattern is made by changing the numbers and locations of closed andopen slots. This must be done by removing or adding the little inserts which are separately supplied. When it is considered that a single knitting machine may have as many as ten thousand slots and the pattern might be changed several times in a month, it is apparant that a costly hand operation is involved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, it is proposed to still provide a very simple jack, but in lieu of providing individual jacks as required by the pattern and removing the jacks when not required, in accordance with this invention, it is proposed to provide the pattern wheel with a jack for each pattern slot and that all of the jacks be mounted on a hinge wire for hinging or swinging between a stored position and a slot blocking position.

In accordance with this invention, the hinge wire will be, for all practical purposes, permanently installed on the pattern wheel with the hinge wire serving to permanently retain in place the jacks. The jacks, however, will be connected to the hinge wire wherein, if they must be removed for some reason, they may be removed and replaced.

A principal feature of this invention is the simplicity of the hinge connection between the jack and the hinge wire. The jack is merely provided at one end thereof with a notch which is configurated to snap over the hinge wire and to have snugly received therein the hinge wire so that the connection between the jack and the hinge wire also functions as the hinge mounting the jack for swinging movement between a slot blocking position and a stored position. Because the jack may be readily snapped into place on the hinge wire, no assembly problems are involved and the formation of the jack merely requires a simple stamping operation.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claims and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawings:

IN THE DRAWINGS:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conventional type pattern wheel having mounted therein the hinged jack assembly of this invention, a portion of the cover being broken away and shown in section.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the pattern wheel and shows the arrangement of the pattern slots in the periphery thereof.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged exploded vertical sectional view taken transversely through the center of the pattern wheel and shows specifically the construction thereof and the mounting of the hinged jack assembly.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view showing on a very large scale that portion of the pattern wheel and hinged jack assembly encircled in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the hinge end of one of the jacks and shows the con structional details thereof.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that there is illustrated a typical pattern wheel for a knitting machine utilizing the hinged jack assembly of this invention. The pattern wheel is generally identified by the numeral and is provided about the periphery thereof with pattern control slots 11 which are tilted slightly with respect to the axis of the pattern wheel 10. The pattern wheel 10 is provided with a central hub 12 having a shaft receiving bore 13 therethrough so as to facilitate the mounting of the pattern wheel 10 for rotatlon.

As is clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the upper surface of the pattern wheel 10 is provided with a radial groove 14 which is in alignment with and is generally a continuation of each of the pattern control slots 11. It is to be noted that an annular groove 15 is formed in the upper surface of the pattern wheel 10 at substantially the same depth as the grooves 14 so that the grooves 14 slots 11.

Referring now to FIG. 4 in particular, it will be seen that a further annular groove 16 is formed in the upper surface of the pattern wheel 10 immediately inwardly of the annular groove 15 with the annular groove 16 being of a lesser depth than the grooves 14 and 15 and resulting in the formation of an elevated interrupted shoulder 17 surrounding the groove 15.

The pattern wheel 10 is provided with a hinged jack assembly in accordance with this invention, the hinged jack assembly being generally identified by the numeral 18. Basically, the hinged jack assembly 18 includes a hinge wire 20 and a plurality of identical jacks, the jacks being identified by the numeral 21. The hinge wire 20 is preferably in the form of a continuous circular wire which is of a constant cross section and which is of a diameter to snugly fit the circumferential wall 22 defined by the groove 16. It is to be understood that the hinge wire 20 may be pressed over the central portion of the pattern wheel 10 defined generally by the wall 22 or it may be applied in other ways, such as by shrink fitting the same. It is to be noted that the hinge wire 20 will rest upon the shoulder 17 and lie generally in the comer defined between the shoulder 17 and the wall 22 and the position of the hinge wire 20 is maintained solely by the tight frictional engagement thereof with the wall 22 and totally independent of jacks to be mounted thereon. It is also to be noted that the hinge wire 20 is spaced above the underside of the grooves 14 and 15.

Normally, there will be one of the jacks 21 for each of the grooves 14. Each jack 21 is preferably of a onepiece construction and includes an arm portion 23 and a blocking portion 24, the blocking portion being of a size to substantially fill one of the pattern control slots 11, as is generally shown in FIG. 3.

At the end of the arm portion 23 remote from the blocking portion 24, each jack 21 is provided with a wire receiving notch 25. Each notch 25 is of a part circular cross section of a size to snugly fit the intended hinge wire 20 while permitting the hinging of the associated jack 21 around the wire 20. It will be noted that the peripheral extent of the notch 25 is in excess of 180 leaving an entrance opening 26 at the free end of the arm portion 23 which is of a width lesser than the diameter of the hinge wire 20 while generally approaching the diameter of the hinge wire 20. Thus, it is possible to readily snap each jack 21 in place on the hinge wire 20 while the interlock between each jack 21 and the hinge wire 20 is sufficient to retain the jack in place during normal operating conditions.

As is clearly shown in FIG. 5, the arm portion 21 may be initially formed to have a rounded end portion 27 with an aperture formed therein. Then, a major part of the rounded end portion 27 is snipped off leaving the open notch 25 and with the corners of the arm portion 23 rounded as at 28. The radius of curvature of the rounded comer portions 28 will have generally the same center as the notch 25.

Referring once again to FIG. 3 in particular, it will be seen that the jack 21 may assume one of two positions providing the two modes of the individual pattern control slots of the pattern wheel. The jack 21 may be stored, as shown at the left of FIG. 3 at which time the jack 21 will be partially seated within the associated groove 14 and with the blocking portion 24 thereof projecting upwardly out of the groove 14.

The second position of the jack 21 is a pattern control slot blocking position, as is shown at the right side of FIG. 3. in this position, the jack 21 has been pivoted 180 from its stored position. The blocking portion 24 is moved into the associated pattern control slot 11.

in order that the jacks 21 may be retained in their selected positions, a cover 30 is provided. The cover 30 is provided with a central bore 31 adapted to be snugly received over the hub 12. It is also provided with an annular groove 32 in the underside thereof which provides clearance for the upstanding blocking portions 23 when the jacks 21 are in their stored positions.

The cover 30 is secured to the pattern Wheel by fasteners 33 (FIG. 1) which pass through bores 34 in the cover 30 and are threaded into internally threaded bores 35 in the pattern wheel 10. When the cover 30 is clamped in place on the pattern wheel 10, a peripheral portion 36 thereof directly overlies the arm portions 23 of the jacks which are in their pattern control slot blocking positions so as to hold the operative jacks firmly in place.

At this time it is particularly pointed out that the specific position of the hinge wire 20 and the rounded corners on the arm portion 23 of each jack permits the jacks to be individually pivoted or hinged about the hinge wire 20 without binding.

It is to be understood that the pattern wheel 10 and its associated cover 30 may be of a conventional construction with the exception of the specific groove formations 14, and 16 and the hinged jack assembly 18 and that this invention is specifically restricted to the details of the hinged jack assembly and those modifications of the pattern wheel which are necessary to accommodate the hinged jack assembly.

Although only a preferred embodiment of pattern wheel and hinged jack assembly has been specifically illustrated and described herein, it is to be understood that minor variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

lclaim:

1. In a pattern wheel for knitting machines wherein said pattern wheel has a plurality of radial pattern controlling slots about the periphery thereof, a folding jack assembly comprising a hinge wire and a plurality of jacks individually mounted on said hinge wire for hinging movement between a retracted non-blocking position and a projecting slot blocking position, said hinge wire being continuous and being secured in place on said pattern wheel solely by being tightly frictionally directly engaged over a reduced cross sectional portion of said pattern wheel and independently of said jacks.

2. The pattern wheel of claim 1 wherein said hinge wire is of a circular cross section and each jack has a part circular notch means in one end thereof of a size for snugly engaging said hinge wire and individually mounting each jack on a wire for individual replacement, said part circular notch having a pierpheral extent in excess of l degrees and having an entrance opening of a width less than the diameter of said wire while approaching a width equal to the wire diameter facilitating the snap engagement of each jack onto said hinge wire while providing sufficient engagement between said hinge wire and each jack to hold each jack in position on said hinge wire.

3. The pattern wheel of claim 2 wherein corners of each jack adjacent the notch formed therein are rounded generally about the radial center of the respective notch to facilitate pivoting of each jack between a fully supported retracted position and a fully supported operative position without displacing said wire.

4. In a pattern wheel for knitting machines wherein said pattern wheel has a plurality of radial pattern controlling slots about the periphery thereof, a folding jack assembly comprising a hinge wire and a plurality of jacks individually mounted on said hinge wire for hinging movement between a retracted non-blocking position and a projecting slot blocking position, said pattern wheel having formed in a surface thereof jack storage grooves extending radially inwardly from said slots, an interrupted elevated shoulder extending peripherally around said pattern wheel between and generally transversely of said grooves, and said hinge wire being seated on said shoulder, said hinge wire being continuous and frictionally directly engaged over a reduced cross sectional portion of said pattern wheel independently of said jacks, said hinge wire being of a circular cross section and each jack having a part circular notch means in one end thereof of a size for snugly engaging said hinge wire and individually mounting each jack on a wire for individual replacement, said part circular notch having a peripheral extent in excess of degrees and having an entrance opening of a width less than the diameter of said wire while approaching a width equal to the wire diameter facilitating the snap engagement of each jack onto said hinge wire while providing sufficient engagement between said hinge wire and each jack to hold each jack in position on said hinge wire.

5. The pattern wheel of claim 4 wherein corners of each jack adjacent the notch formed therein are rounded generally about the radial center of the respective notch to facilitate pivoting of each jack between a fully supported retracted position and a fully supported operative position without displacing said mm.

6. A folding jack assembly for a pattern wheel comprising a continuous hinge wire and a plurality of jacks individually mounted on said hinge wire for hinging movement thereabout, each jack including an elongated arm portion terminating remote from said hinge wire in an enlarged blocking portion adapted to selectively block a pattern wheel slot, each jack having a part circular notch means in the end of said arm portion remote from said blocking portion of a size for snugly engaging said hinge wire and individually releaseably mounting each jack on said wire, said part circular notch having a peripheral extent in excess of 180 degrees and having an entrance opening of a width less than the diameter of said wire while approaching a width equal to the wire diameter facilitating the snap engagement of each jack onto said hinge wire while providing sufficient engagement between said hinge wire and each jack to hold each jack in position on said jack and said blocking portion being adapted to be selectively positioned in a pattern wheel slot, said arm portion having formed in an end thereof remote from said blocking portion a hinge wire receiving notch means for releaseably securing said jack to a hinge wire for individual replacement, said notch being part circular in cross section and having a peripheral extent in excess of degrees with an entrance opening of a width less than the diameter of the intended hinge wire while approaching the diameter thereof to facilitate the snap locking engagement of the jack onto a hinge wire.

52 3 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE (IERTIFICATE 0F CURRECTION Patent No. 3,683,645 i Dated August 15, 1972 Inventor(s) SAMUEL W AUDIA It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the Abstract Page, read the date of the patent as --August 15, 1972 rather than "August 8, 1972".

Signed and sealed this 9th day of January 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. In a pattern wheel for knitting machines wherein said pattern wheel has a plurality of radial pattern controlling slots about the periphery thereof, a folding jack assembly comprising a hinge wire and a plurality of jacks individually mounted on said hinge wire for hinging movement between a retracted non-blocking position and a projecting slot blocking position, said hinge wire being continuous and being secured in place on said pattern wheel solely by being tightly frictionally directly engaged over a reduced cross sectional portion of said pattern wheel and independently of said jacks.
 2. The pattern wheel of claim 1 wherein said hinge wire is of a circular cross section And each jack has a part circular notch means in one end thereof of a size for snugly engaging said hinge wire and individually mounting each jack on a wire for individual replacement, said part circular notch having a pierpheral extent in excess of 180 degrees and having an entrance opening of a width less than the diameter of said wire while approaching a width equal to the wire diameter facilitating the snap engagement of each jack onto said hinge wire while providing sufficient engagement between said hinge wire and each jack to hold each jack in position on said hinge wire.
 3. The pattern wheel of claim 2 wherein corners of each jack adjacent the notch formed therein are rounded generally about the radial center of the respective notch to facilitate pivoting of each jack between a fully supported retracted position and a fully supported operative position without displacing said wire.
 4. In a pattern wheel for knitting machines wherein said pattern wheel has a plurality of radial pattern controlling slots about the periphery thereof, a folding jack assembly comprising a hinge wire and a plurality of jacks individually mounted on said hinge wire for hinging movement between a retracted non-blocking position and a projecting slot blocking position, said pattern wheel having formed in a surface thereof jack storage grooves extending radially inwardly from said slots, an interrupted elevated shoulder extending peripherally around said pattern wheel between and generally transversely of said grooves, and said hinge wire being seated on said shoulder, said hinge wire being continuous and frictionally directly engaged over a reduced cross sectional portion of said pattern wheel independently of said jacks, said hinge wire being of a circular cross section and each jack having a part circular notch means in one end thereof of a size for snugly engaging said hinge wire and individually mounting each jack on a wire for individual replacement, said part circular notch having a peripheral extent in excess of 180 degrees and having an entrance opening of a width less than the diameter of said wire while approaching a width equal to the wire diameter facilitating the snap engagement of each jack onto said hinge wire while providing sufficient engagement between said hinge wire and each jack to hold each jack in position on said hinge wire.
 5. The pattern wheel of claim 4 wherein corners of each jack adjacent the notch formed therein are rounded generally about the radial center of the respective notch to facilitate pivoting of each jack between a fully supported retracted position and a fully supported operative position without displacing said wire.
 6. A folding jack assembly for a pattern wheel comprising a continuous hinge wire and a plurality of jacks individually mounted on said hinge wire for hinging movement thereabout, each jack including an elongated arm portion terminating remote from said hinge wire in an enlarged blocking portion adapted to selectively block a pattern wheel slot, each jack having a part circular notch means in the end of said arm portion remote from said blocking portion of a size for snugly engaging said hinge wire and individually releaseably mounting each jack on said wire, said part circular notch having a peripheral extent in excess of 180 degrees and having an entrance opening of a width less than the diameter of said wire while approaching a width equal to the wire diameter facilitating the snap engagement of each jack onto said hinge wire while providing sufficient engagement between said hinge wire and each jack to hold each jack in position on said hinge wire.
 7. The folding jack assembly of claim 6 wherein corners of each jack adjacent the notch formed therein are rounded generally about the radial center of the respective notch to facilitate pivoting of each jack between a fully supported retracted position and a fully supported operative position without displacing said wire.
 8. A folding jack for a pattern wheel of a knitting Machine, said jack comprising an arm portion and a blocking portion, said arm portion being adapted to be engaged with a hinge wire for hingedly mounting said jack and said blocking portion being adapted to be selectively positioned in a pattern wheel slot, said arm portion having formed in an end thereof remote from said blocking portion a hinge wire receiving notch means for releaseably securing said jack to a hinge wire for individual replacement, said notch being part circular in cross section and having a peripheral extent in excess of 180 degrees with an entrance opening of a width less than the diameter of the intended hinge wire while approaching the diameter thereof to facilitate the snap locking engagement of the jack onto a hinge wire. 